Garden Room Inspiration for 2021

Image: Pod Space

Now, we may seem biased, but we are currently obsessing over the growing trend of garden rooms. Many of our customers have achieved innovative and unique results from their garden room projects and we are here to serve you some inspiration for your next endeavour!

Garden rooms allow you to enjoy your outdoor space all year round, creating a cosy cabin during the winter, a social space for garden parties and a break from the sun! They can be designed to match your home’s exterior and interior décor, or you can create something completely fresh, adding a modern appeal to your garden.

The ideas below will fire up your imagination and help you to plan for your next garden makeover! With our environmentally friendly ThermoWoods, you can create a beautiful garden room whilst minimising your impact on the environment.

No matter how big or small your space is, a garden room is suitable for any area. A top tip is to position your garden building along the back boundary of your garden, providing depth and allowing the room to blend in with the natural environment.

Garden Office

Image: Sheridan & Co.

Garden Offices provide you with freedom from commuting whilst maintaining a safe distance from domestic chores and temptations like putting the washing on or taking your laptop to bed to work from there. A garden office provides you with relief from the same four walls of your house and can be made comfortable for year-round use. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, we all spent a lot more time at home, sometimes all members of a household would be working from home and homeschooling at the same time, tip-toeing around each other to not disrupt that all-important Teams meeting! An outdoor, garden office is the perfect solution to get away from a busy house and allow you to focus on your work throughout the day, whilst being surrounded by the beautiful accents of your garden.

Work is work and home is home, and it is becoming more important than ever to introduce a work-life balance, even if you don’t have to commute to the office every morning. These garden offices are also great if you run your business from home. Instead of having clients inside your home, taking them to your garden office is always a lot more professional. This minimalist garden office made use of our ThermoChar® range.

Garden Living Room

Image: ThermoWood Iroko

Garden livings rooms are perfect for throwing the doors open and relaxing on a summer's day, or creating a cosy retreat in the colder months. Add a day bed, some blankets and a fur rug and you have a cosy cabin for rainy days and summer nights! Choosing a small garden room to fit into a corner of your outdoor space is the perfect way to maximise the space you have in your garden, just like our customer did here! Using our ThermoWood Iroko cladding.

Pool House

Image: Deco Design

If you’re lucky enough to have a pool in your garden, your next big step should be to get a pool house! The perfect room to store garden furniture layout snacks after spending hours playing water polo, as well as offering a shelter away from the sun after hours of lounging! Pool houses can be as extravagant as you please, including pool tables, televisions and minibars. However, we advise that you choose the best material for this project as this is what will matter the most! Try our ThermoWood Ayous married with our ThermoChar® Knotty Pine (Medium) to achieve this look for your pool house.

Outdoor Bar/Kitchen

Image: Grow Landscapes

Outdoor kitchens are growing in popularity in the UK, where clients are looking to fit out a smart and multi-functional space for outdoor entertainment, all year round. Our ThermoWood Ash cladding and ThermoWood Pine decking would beautifully replicate this look. Offering warm tones, 30+ year of durability and minimal maintenance.

Additional Storage

Image: ThermoChar® Ash (Light)

Sheds are usually cold, damp, dirty areas that need constant maintenance. One of our clients decided to include an additional storage space into their garden room design. Creating a neat, spacious area for garden tools, bikes and garden furniture. This project using our ThermoChar® Ash (Light) beautifully hides the additional cupboard, offering a hidden doorway into a Narnia of garden storage!

Need to Know

Cost

The cost of a garden room all depends on the materials used, the size of your project and also what you are expecting to include within the build. If you are looking to build an annexe with all of your normal home comforts such as electricity, double glazing and plumbing, this can cost between £22,000 and £60,000. If you are looking for a simpler design, some garden rooms can start at around £700.

Added Value

It has been proven over the years that garden rooms usually add value to your property. They can add 1.5x their value to a home depending on the quality of the build. This also usually attracts more buyers and is known to boost the value of a property by 5-15%.

Planning Permission

In general, permitted developments usually allow you to add a single-storey garden building to the property, providing it is under 2.5m in height and doesn’t exceed 50% of the total land area around the house, and as long as it is not self-contained living premises. It is always advised that you seek the right permissions and advice from your local council.

It is also vital to ensure you have a solid foundation when constructing your garden room. A flat, level surface of paving slabs, or concrete no less than 10mm is recommended, leaving 5mm of clearance between walls, fencing or trees.

Maintenance

Our ThermoWoods are easy to maintain. We suggest wiping down your material once every year with soapy water to wash off any dirt. If you do not want your natural timber to weather, we suggest using the Messmers UV Plus Oil to maintain the original colour of the timber.